Part 1 of the leaked Zimbabwe CIO list

As initially reported, starting this Thursday SW Radio Africa will exclusively be publishing a list of Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) agents working in and outside Zimbabwe. The document is dated 2001 and is a list of ‘operatives’ working at the time.

The head of the CIO Happyton Bonyongwe (left), army chief Constantine Chiwenga (centre) in discussion with Robert Mugabe.

We will serialise the 480+ names alphabetically over six weeks. A number of the people on the list may have retired or passed away, but there will be many who are still serving.

Our list starts with Hamad Adam who we have been able to verify is deployed at the Zimbabwean embassy in Germany as a ‘political councillor.’ Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Harare, unaware we knew he was CIO, confirmed his deployment as a councillor and told us Adam has been in Germany for over 5 years now and is due to finish his ‘stint’ next month.

In the run-up to the violent June 2008 one-man presidential election run-off, Adam was temporarily deployed back in his home area of Mabvuku, Harare. This was the same area where MDC-T activist Tonderai Ndira was abducted by 10 armed state security agents. Sources we spoke to placed Adam in the area at the same time, with his presence there said to involve ‘campaigning’ for ZANU PF.

The Director General of the CIO, Happton Bonyongwe, is number 8 on the list. His name is often spelled Happyton, but the correct spelling is Happton. Bonyongwe is a retired Brigadier in the Zimbabwe National Army and our sources say he bypasses State Security Minister Sidney Sekeramayi and reports directly to Robert Mugabe. Under his watch the CIO direct most of the abductions, torture and murder of opposition activists.

At number 69 is Simon Chisorochengwe, listed as a Deputy Intelligence Officer. He shot to prominence via his well publicized attempts to destroy the Zimbabwe Liberators’ Platform (ZLP), a rival war vets association which is independent of ZANU PF interference and manipulation. Although most media report refer to him as Samuel, his correct name on the list is Simon.

Chisorochengwe engineered a trumped-up case in which then ZLP leader Wilfred Mhanda (Dzinashe Machingura) and former national programmes coordinator Wilson Nharingo, were jointly charged with theft by conversion. Using his influence Chisorochengwe ensured the case dragged on for more than 2 years. In June 2007 the presiding magistrate eventually threw out the case.

At number 56 is Edward Chinoza, another ‘Deputy Intelligence Officer’. Investigations have revealed that Chinoza is working in the newly autonomous country of South Sudan as the Consul General.

Number 42 is Paul Chikawa, a Deputy Intelligence Officer at the time the list was leaked in 2001. Last year it was reported that the pensions of two retired soldiers were stolen in a well-orchestrated scam involving bank officials and accomplices allegedly linked to the national registry office. Chikawa, one of the victims, was referred to as a retired soldier but from our list he actually works for the CIO and is believed to be currently deployed in Hong Kong.

At number 34 is a notorious state security agent known as Maxwell Chidzamba (spelt Chidzambwa in some reports). In January 2008 he allegedly took part in the attempted murder of prominent MDC-T activist Shepherd Maisiri, a poor farmer in the Inyati Resettlement area.

Chidzamba and his gang of seven, on the orders of then State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa, bundled Maisiri into a jute bag, then into a truck and dumped him in the Rusape Dam. He was only saved by fishermen laying their nets that night. People in the area usually refer to Chidzamba as a war vet, but our list says he is a CIO operative.